Chalk up another major college commitment for the Valencia High baseball team.

Valencia High senior Keston Hiura issued his verbal commitment last week to play baseball at the University of California, Irvine, making him the fourth current Valencia player who will be playing NCAA Division I baseball.

“I wanted to mainly make sure what I was deciding was the perfect place for me, so I didn’t want to rush anything,” said Hiura, who also had scholarship offers from UC Davis and the University of San Diego.

Hiura made his official verbal on Wednesday, and he said he’s being recruited as a middle infielder. He’s played both second base and shortstop for Valencia through the last two years.

“The sole reason I went (with UC Irvine) is because I really enjoy the coaching staff,” Hiura said. “I can’t see myself playing there over other schools in the area looking at me.”

The head coach at UC Irvine is Mike Gillespie, a former coach at USC and College of the Canyons, where he guided the team to three state titles in the 1980s.

Gillespie also won an NCAA national title with USC in 1998.

In six seasons at UC Irvine, Gillespie has led the team to the postseason foure times.

“Irvine has always been on top of the (Big West) conference every year, especially with coach Gillespie there,” Hiura said. “When he’s coaching a team, there’s always a chance to get to the World Series and play for a championship.”Hiura said he had a connection to Gillespie through Valencia assistant coach Mike Bible, who once played for Gillespie at COC.

Hiura was also helped by his strong offensive numbers. During the past two seasons, he’s been one of the most consistent hitters in the Foothill League.

This past year, Hiura finished with a .343 batting average in 29 games. He had 15 RBIs, 33 hits and 25 runs and was a Signal All-Santa Clarita Valley honorable mention.

As a sophomore, he batted .415 with 16 RBIs, a home run and a team-high 10 doubles on his way to becoming an All-SCV second team selection.

Hiura said he plans on studying business at UC Irvine.

Last year, the UC Irvine baseball team finished 32-25 overall and 13-11 in Big West Conference play.